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The 10 Essential Elements of Design
by Tom Wujec, Bill O’Connor
April 29, 2011
No simple checklist could ever fully define what we mean by good design, but when we look at examples of it, we see that some essential elements tend to show up consistently.
As we described in the introduction to this month’s package on design, by exploring these elements individually—and by thinking about design as not just a noun (the design) but also a verb (to design)—we can approach the abstract question of “What is design?” in a productive way. Drawing on what design is actually like in the real world helps us talk about what it could, and should, become.
Here are 10 essential elements or aspects of good design that transcend context, industry, and geography.
Tools
Technologies, from the humble pencil to the most advanced software, amplify human imagination and intelligence, allowing us to imagine and create things.
Experience
Design is not just about the object created, but also about the way that creation makes us feel, think, or learn. It’s about the human response to the things we make for the world.
Systems
New systems and approaches to design—such as sustainable design, design computation, integrative design, biomimicry, and crowdsourcing—are being developed to help us address complex global challenges.
Emotional Appeal
Today we are increasingly designing for the right brain by focusing on the emotional aspects of design and by asking “How will it make people feel?” in addition to “How will it look?” and “How will it work?”
Sustainability
“It’s not good design if it’s bad for the planet” is the mantra of the sustainable-design movement, which encourages designers to consider the impact their creations will have on the environment and people.
Growth
Great design (along with its close cousin, real innovation) has turned into a powerful competitive advantage for companies that have learned how to do it consistently.
Function
Design is sometimes thought to be about form, style, and how things look, but it’s also very much about function, or what something does. With new technologies making it possible to develop new functions, this is now more true than ever.
Aesthetics
The power of beauty is vividly illustrated by the success of companies like Apple. Competing on price and product features is no longer enough.
Spark
How do great designers generate all those great ideas? By asking “What if?” By making unexpected connections. By applying new technologies. By turning to nature. And also from each other, through crowdsourcing and open innovation.
Process
The design process—the way things actually get done—is being transformed by new technologies and new approaches that can radically alter traditional design phases, workflows, time frames, roles, and outcomes.
Please choose one answer from the following 7 images, and include the above 10 aspects in your analysis，pdf1, 2 please also read
Discussions:
Everyone: Evaluate any product below based on the 10 elements.
Service Design
It’s the activity of planning and organizing a
business’s resources (people, equipment, and
processes) in order to improve its quality and
enhance the customer experience.
Servicescape: Totality of the ambience and physical
environment in which a service occurs. I mean everything
involved in the service delivery. Also called service setting.
High & Low Customer Contact Service: High-contact
service means you offer customers a lot of hand-holding
and direct support, while low-contact service means you
give them tools to sort things out for themselves. If you
can get business done without talking to a store employee,
it’s low contact.
Servicescape
Servicescape: reception area, certificates on the wall,
relaxing music, color scheme, lighting, white robes, gloves
Starbucks Store Design
“What you don’t want is a customer walking into a store in
downtown Seattle, walking into a store in the suburbs of
Seattle, and then going into a store in San Jose and seeing
the same store.
Starbucks’s current mission is to create “sustainably designed,
locally relevant stores that inspire and nurture the human spirit
one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.”
“It’s all about us meeting our customers where they are in their
day.”
I think we have managed to, with a simple cup of coffee and a
very unique experience, enhance the lives of millions of
people by re-creating a sense of community, by bringing
people together and recognizing the importance of place in
people’s lives.
High vs. Low Contact System
High contact: a greater level of interaction exists
between service providers and customers, such as
health care, hotels, public transportation, some retailers,
and schools. High contact allows a greater degree of
customization of the service delivered to individuals.
Low contact: there is a low level of direct contact with
customers, such as coin laundry, mail box rentals,
medical test labs, and some retailers. Work is more
standardized and completed in an assembly line fashion.
One question to ask:
Can a customer complete a purchase with minimum
contact with employees? If yes, then it’s low contact.
High vs. Low Contact System
High & Low contact: The higher the contact, the more
expensive it is and the more customized it can be.
High vs. Low Contact System
How to use low contact service to give customer a high
contact feeling? Takashimaya vs. Amazon Go.
Service Design
It All Started with a Stupid Question…
Think about this
stupid idea of
putting people on
the conveyor belt…
and why not?
Service Design: the Idea
Airlines Luggage Handling
Basic idea and process:
People and luggage arrive together at airport
People and luggage are separated
People and luggage are transported together
People and luggage are reunited
It’s a small observation. Then someone at the airline asked a
question why do WE handle the bags, rather than asking
passengers to carry them on board? Airlines started to charge
bag fees at $20 or $25 a piece. Before we knew it, $5.8
Billion dollars were collected in 2019!
Service Design: Healthcare
When people are sick…people and
medical service providers are separated
physically.
Goal: bring people and medical service
providers
together.
The health care industries face similar
challenges of airport luggage handling. How
do you bring people and medical service
providers together when people are sick?
Service Design: Healthcare
Several solutions are present to bring people
and doctors together:
Doctors make house calls, mobile clinic,
in-home care, midwife
Convalescent home/nursing home
HMO/PPO: patients go to clinics,
pharmacies, labs, hospitals…
Kaiser Permanente: patients go to this all
in one “department store”
Ambulance takes people to ER
Service Design: Restaurants
When people are hungry…people
and food are separated physically.
Goal: bring hungry people and food
together.
The food and restaurant industries face
similar challenges of airport luggage
handling. How do you bring food and
people together when people are
hungry?
Service Design: Problem and Solutions
When people are hungry…people
want to be united with food
In-house: go to market, buy raw food,
cook at home, eat
Outsourcing: go to a restaurant, eat
Service Design: Solutions
Outsourcing options:
Go to store, buy cooked food, eat
Order delivery by phone/computer
Go to restaurant (where food is) and
Order take out food
Sit down and self-serve food
Sit down and have other people bring food
Service Design: Alternatives
Service Design: Alternatives
Domino’s
Business
Model
Domino’s Around the World
New Service Designs
Think: Why didn’t Domino’s develop home delivery services
using their years of experience and existing delivery capabilities?
Sushi Restaurant
Auto Repair Shop Lounge
Bank Branch
Retail Banking
Consumption Trends
Experiences and experiential product spending are
on the rise. Experiential products are products used
to gain experiences, such as sports and outdoor
equipment. (e.g. RV sales)
A.T. Kearney 2017
study: America’s Next
Commercial Revolution:
Influence vs. Affluence
Discussion Questions
Please research the following questions and provide
evidence to support your answers.
Everyone: Describe the servicescape of a retail store you
like and explain why you like it. Please be comprehensive.
Everyone: Find an industry or a business where low and
high contact services are both used. What do you think
are the reasons both are offered? Which one do you
prefer and why?
Everyone: Is pumping gas a high or low contact system?
Will the gas delivery service like the one discussed in the
podcast work? Why or why not?
Group Discussion
Be sure your group is ready to lead and/or
discuss the following question in class, with
research or facts-based evidence.
There is a trend of turning high contact
services into lower contact to save costs. How
would you do it without letting customers feel
they are being neglected or short-changed?
How would you take it to a different level and
make customers “want” to use the low contact
service? Please use examples and references.
Product Design
Product design is the process of identifying
a market opportunity (needs and wants),
clearly defining the problem, developing a
proper solution, and validating the solution
with real users. The solution is loosely
inclusive of products, services, and digital
products (apps, webs, etc.).
*Differences between needs and wants?
Needs and Wants
Product Design Process
Problem or
unmet
needs/wants
Problem solved
or needs/wants
satisfied
Known Unmet Needs and Wants
Unknown Unmet Needs and Wants
Many Designs Fail
Good Product Designs
Design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA):
develop creative product designs that use optimal
manufacturing processes and reduced production cost.
(easy to make)
Good Product Designs
Design for the environment (DfE, EcoDesign): designs
that use less materials (thinner water bottles, detergent
in pouch vs plastic bottle, wine in box vs glass bottle) or
biodegradable/recycled materials, can be
recycled/reused, and cost less in the entire life cycle.
Good Product Designs?
Design for profitability: ensuring constant cash flow
with service reminders or proprietary parts.
Product Design
Things that make sense…or not!
Eco Design
Popular in Japan
and Europe, this
wash basin on
top of the toilet
reservoir is for
people to wash
hands then (grey)
water is stored
beneath for the
next flush.
Japanese Bidet/Washlet
Never run out of toilet paper…
A Real Product
Does it make sense, a product that allows women to pee like a
guy? Where and when would you use it? Can you sell this? How?
Available at REI
Women Friendly Designs?
Which one is REAL women friendly and which one
is simply “pink it and shrink it” design to create
something that seems to be women friendly?
Pink Tax?
Women pay more for essentially the same
products that target them.
Senior Friendly Designs: Oxo
Smart Design. Products and services that matter.
http://smartdesignworldwide.com/about/
The $2000 Vacuum
Nike
FlyKnit
A material made up of
strong yet lightweight
strands of yarn that
have been woven into a
one‐piece upper,
securing an athlete’s
foot to the shoe
platform.
Could Nike bring manufacturing back now that the
labor‐intensive part can be fully automated?
Shirts Made to Be Worn Untucked?!
Challenges
Here are the problems… any solutions? (too much trash, dried
out glue, when to replace Brita filter, air in wine bottle/ice cream tub)
Discussion Questions
Please research the following questions and
provide evidence to support your answers.
Everyone: Show and tell, bring one favorite product of
yours to explain why you like/hate its design based on
our discussions. Bring/explain another one that’s
designed for the environment.
Everyone: Respond to one challenge in the previous
slide about challenges.
Everyone: Do you like Untuckit as a company and why?
Is it likely to succeed like Oxo or Dyson?
Group Discussion
Be sure your group is ready to lead and/or
discuss the following question in class, with
research or facts‐based evidence.
There are unmet needs and wants out there. We
know that. What we don’t know is whether these
unmet needs/wants are known or unknown.
Could you think of and explain two or three cases
of known unmet needs/wants? What would be a
good way to systematically uncover unknown
unmet deeds/wants? Watching DSC CEO interview
and other related YouTube videos may help.
